Encryption is used to hide plaintext messages into encrypted messages that cannot be understood except by the sender and receiver. It is important for securing both wired and wireless networks, and using the best tools will help implement best practices with high efficiency. Some tools used for encryption include MD5 Calculator, HashMyFiles, BitLocker, VeraCrypt, and AES Crypt. This paper will discus the following for each of these tools: Pros and cons Specific use cases Their part in guarding against crypto attacks Additional protection methods/policies
MD5 Calculator
MD5 is a simple, easy to use application for calculating the MD5 hash value of a selected file. It is very quick and easy to use, but it may not have the advanced features some users need. To hash a file using MD5 Calculator, simply right click on a file and select MD5 Calculator. The program will then calculate the MD5 hash in the MD5 Digest field. This application also offers quick comparing between other hashes. To compare this MD5 digest to another, one can paste the other value into the Compare To field. Obviously, an equal sign (“=”) appears between the two values if they are equal; otherwise, the less than (“<”) or greater than (“>”) sign will tell you that the values are different.” (EC-Council 2018) Hashing is especially useful for passwords, or any other type of sensitive information that should not be stored as plaintext in a database.
HashMyFiles
“HashMyFiles is small utility that allows to calculate the MD5 and SHA1 hashes of one or more files in the system. It allows to copy the MD5/SHA1 hashes list into the clipboard or save them into text/html/xml file. One can launch HashMyFiles from the context menu of Windows Explorer and display MD5/SHA1 hashes of the selected file or folder.” HasMyFiles has the advantage of being able to hash multiple files simultaneously. (EC-Council 2018)
References:
EC-Council. (2018). Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Version 10 eBook w/ iLabs (Volume 4: Ethical Hacking Concepts and Methodology). [[VitalSource Bookshelf version]].
VeraCrypt. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.veracrypt.fr/en/Home.html